Netta and Her Plant
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
On Tu B'Shevat, little Netta, who lives in Israel, brings a plant home from preschool. She loves it. Netta grows and the plant grows, until it is time for both of them to find new homes and new friends. Netta and Her Plant tells the story of the changes Netta encounters as she grows up, getting taller getting a new baby sister, and preparing for her first day of kindergarten at her new school, each stage of her life mirrored by her growing plant.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
For Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish holiday that's a combination of Earth Day and Arbor Day (although it usually falls in January or February, it's spring in Israel), everyone in Netta's preschool class is bringing home a seedling in a pot. Netta, whose name means "plant" in Hebrew, and her family (who are also referred to by their Hebrew titles, such as "Ima," for mother) are conscientious caregivers and, as book's refrain explains, "The plant grew. Netta grew." When the milestones of maturity a big bed, a new brother, a new home, and kindergarten feel overwhelming, Netta turns the plant into a living transitional object, comforting it as grownups comfort and encourage her. "You don't have to be afraid," she tells the plant, echoing Ima. "It will be OK, and in the new house you will have your own room." Gellman's (Jeremy's Dreidel) gentle, serious prose conveys profound respect for Netta's unwavering stewardship as well as her changing emotional states. Ugliano (Benjamin and the Silver Goblet) is very much in sync, with quietly reassuring scenes of modern Jewish family life and characters whose thoughtful, open faces exude warmth and constancy. Ages 3 8.
